Penguins Letang Named NHL All-Star Captain, Replaces Ovechkin

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will captain the Metro Division squad at the 2020 NHL All-Star game in St. Louis on Jan 24-25, according to NHL PR. Letang will wear the C because the fan-voted captain, Alex Ovechkin pulled out of the game and will serve a one-game suspension as a result.

Letang and Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry are the Penguins representatives. This will be Letang’s sixth All-Star Game, but the first time he will be the captain.

This season, Letang ranks in the top-five of most categories among Metro Division defensemen. The Penguins rearguard has 28 points, including 10 goals in 37 games this season.

#NHLAllStar Update: @Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will captain the Metropolitan Division at the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game. pic.twitter.com/p6JMXt8cEy

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 13, 2020

Letang has been an All-Star three consecutive years. He was also selected for the game in 2011, 2012, and 2016. He was a candidate for the fan-voted “Last Men In” competition but was later named as the Penguins replacement for Jake Guentzel, who is out for the remainder of the regular season after a scary collision against the boards on Dec. 30. Guentzel needed shoulder surgery the following morning and will be out four-to-six months.

This will be Jarry’s first All-Star Game. The Penguins goalie is 15-6-1 with a 2.08 GAA and a .932 save percentage. Jarry still leads the NHL in goals-against average but is now tied with Dallas goalie Ben Bishop’s save percentage after Jarry allowed three goals on 28 shots Sunday night against the Arizona Coyotes.

NHL PR also announced that Boston Bruins goalie Tuuka Rask will miss the game and he will be replaced by Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vaselivski. No reason was given for Rask’s replacement, but if he skipped the game voluntarily, he too will serve a one-game suspension as several other NHL stars, including Ovechkin have opted to do.